Ancient Greece Thebes was a city in Greece which was situated in the northern part of the Cithaeron range, which divided Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain.

Thebes Greek Mythology

This city played an important role in Greek mythology, as the site from where the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others emerged. Archaeological excavations which were carried out by archaeologists in and around Thebes have revealed with the help of shreds of evidence that a Mycenaean Greek civilization resided here. Apart from this, clay tablets written in the Linear B script indicated the importance of the site in the Bronze Age.

Ancient Greece Thebes vs Sparta

In ancient times, Thebes was considered to be the largest city in the region of Boeotia. It was a major rival of ancient Athens and supported the Persians during the 480 BC invasion under Xerxes. Theban forces ended the power of Sparta at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC under the command of Epaminondas. Prior to its destruction by Alexander in 335 BC, Ancient Greece Thebes constituted as a major force in the ancient Greek history and was the most dominant and at the peak of its glory at the time of the Macedonian conquest of Greece.

The Largest town in Boeotia

During the Byzantine period, the city became famous for its silks. The modern city contains an Archaeological Greek Museum, the remains of the Cadmea (Bronze Age and forward citadel), and scattered ancient remains. Modern Thebes is the largest town in Boeotia. It is situated at highway E962, some 4 km south of the junction with E75.

As far as the early history of this city was concerned, the ancient Greeks attributed the foundation of Thebes to Cadmus who was a Phoenician king of Tyre which is located in the present day Lebanon and the brother of Queen Europa. Cadmus was famous for teaching the Phoenician alphabet and building the Acropolis, which was named the Cadmeia in his honor and emerged as an intellectual, spiritual, and cultural center.

Smaller Towns

The central, strategic and Greek military position of the city coupled with its security naturally tended to raise it to a commanding position among the Boeotians, and from early days its inhabitants endeavored to establish a complete supremacy over their kinsmen in the outlying towns. This centralizing policy is regarded as the cardinal fact of Theban history for counteracting the efforts of the smaller towns.

There are no details of the earlier history of Thebes which have been preserved, except for the fact that it was governed by a land-holding aristocracy who safeguarded their integrity by rigid statutes about the ownership of property and its transmission.

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